By: Nick the Disney Devo
I confess. I’m an over packer.
There are several reasons for this.
For one, we go to the parks early, and then return to the room for a nap or a swim. I don’t want to wear the same sweaty shirt and such that I wore that morning. So, that’s 2 shirts and extra underthings per day.
What if it rains? I need to bring a couple of extra pairs of socks and a couple more shirts, and yes, extra underthings, just in case.
I wear night clothes. Nothing outrageous, lounge pants, and a t-shirt. And, while I do re-wear the night pants, I often get up earlier than my wife (because I’m too excited to sleep!) and take a walk, which means I’m sweating up that shirt, and that means I’ll need a new one for that evening.
What if I get a stain on my pants or shorts? Gotta bring at least a couple of extra pair of pants!
Then there are dress clothes. Do we have any fancy dinners planned? How many? Gotta have nice button down shirts for those. Maybe even a suit!
And I can’t wear the same thing twice because I am going to have my picture posted on Instagram and scattered across several blogs and Facebook pages!
Then there’s packing for cooler months! Bulky clothes take up a lot of space in your suitcase.
Okay, let’s see what I can do to cut back on some of this.
- Washing clothes is an obvious option. This would eliminate about 1/2 of the shirts, socks, and underclothing I usually bring.
- Stain stick would eliminate the need for extra shorts and pants due to spills.
- If I have multiple meals at fancy restaurants planned, one pair of dress pants would be sufficient.
- Have one or 2 shirts tops for exercise. I’m going to walk, get sweaty, and shower. I could just re-wear that exercise shirt the next day, since I’m going to shower anyway. Then I could re-wear the shirt that I used to sleep in.
- Re-wear jeans or shorts.
- I’ll pack closer to the time we depart. This is tough, I pack early, like a week prior to leaving. But that leads to over-packing in the cooler months. But if I watch the weather channel before packing, I’ll avoid packing unnecessary bulky clothes.
- In those cooler months, a lot of sweaters and sweatshirts can be replaced by one jacket.
- I’m not on prescription medication, but do bring cold medicine, just in case, as well as aspirin, Airborne, and various other pharmaceuticals. I will take only a few of each, and put them in a plastic baggie, rather than have my bag look like an apothecary.
I hope some of these packing tips help you (and me!) on your future Disney Vacations.
